Department for Transport

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

lord rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what effect recent decisions to reduce the previously announced intended extent of route electrification of the Great Western franchise will have on journey times of bi-modal trains.

lord callanan: The Intercity Express bi-mode trains being introduced from this autumn will deliver the existing Great Western Main Line timetable. The Department for Transport is working with Network Rail and Hitachi to ensure delivery of journey times reduced by around 15minutes once electrification between London, Bristol and South Wales is complete. These new bi-mode trains, capable of operating in electric and diesel mode, mean that we can improve journeys for passengers without disruptive work to put up wires and masts along routes where they are no longer required.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma: Rohingya

lord carlile of berriew: To ask Her Majesty's Government whetherthey plan to make representations to the government of Myanmar concerning the position of the Rohingyas, in particular their personal and group rights.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The British Government is deeply concerned by the situation in Rakhine and discrimination against the Muslim minority Rohingya population. Following the recent outbreak of violence in Rakhine State the Foreign Secretary has twice spoken with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and has raised our concerns. Our ambassador in Rangoon has also raised our concerns with the Burmese authorities. The Minister of State for International Development (Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP) visited Burma in July. He discussed the situation in Rakhine State with the Burmese Ministers of Health and Education and met Rohingya leaders. We will continue to raise our concerns at every opportunity.We are also urging the Government of Burma to improve living conditions and to address the citizenship status of the Rohingya and all communities in Burma, particularly those who face severe discrimination.

Burma: Human Rights

the lord bishop of coventry: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma to engage with existing United Nations Human Rights Council mechanisms and address reports of severe human rights violations in Rakhine State.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We remain concerned that human rights violations by the Burmese security forces following the violence in Rakhine State in October 2016 have not been fully investigated or addressed. That is why the UK co-sponsored a resolution at the Human Rights Council in March which set up a Fact Finding Mission to look into the human rights situation in Burma. We have urged the Government of Burma to cooperate fully with the Mission and its mandate and to enable the Mission to visit Burma.Ministers have raised this issue with the Burmese authorities and our broader concerns about the recent outbreak in violence in Rakhine State. The Foreign Secretary has spoken on several occasions with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and has raised our concerns. Our ambassador in Rangoon has also raised our concerns with the Burmese authorities.We support the Rakhine Advisory Commission, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and welcome its report published on 24 August. Amongst its recommendations, the Commission noted that the Government of Burma must take full responsibility for all residents in Rakhine State and ensure access to services and humanitarian aid. We assess that the Commission's recommendations provide the most realistic solution to address the longstanding and underlying issues in Rakhine. The UK stands ready to support Burma to implement the Commission's report. The UK has raised Burma twice at the UN Security Council since the outbreak of the current violence, and secured the Council's first press statement on Burma in eight years. The UK also raised its deep concern about reports of human rights violations at the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Hong Kong: BBC World Service

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to thegovernments ofHong Kong and Chinaconcerning the cessation of broadcasts on the BBC World Service.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Changes to the broadcasting of BBC World Service programming in Hong Kong are a decision for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. We have not raised this issue with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government as the BBC World Service is still available on RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) FM Radio 4 overnight, and available online 24 hrs a day for listeners in Hong Kong.There have been no representations to the Chinese Government.

Yemen: Military Intervention

marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Yemeni civilians were killed by air strikes in July and August; and which countries were responsible for those air strikes.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We do not maintain records of casualty figures for the conflict in Yemen. Gathering data is extremely challenging considering the complexities of the situation and the challenges faced by humanitarian monitors across the country. Estimates by the UN and NGOs vary considerably. On 12 September, the Saudi Joint Incidents Assessment Team published the results of 15 investigations they have made into alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Burma: Rohingya

marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the1stState Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, regarding the persecution of the Rohingya people.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​Following the recent outbreak in violence in Rakhine State, the Foreign Secretary spoke with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 7 and 17 September. He raised our concerns about the continuing violence, the need for any allegations of human rights abuses to be investigated and for humanitarian access to be granted to affected communities. We will continue to raise our concerns about the situation in Rakhine and the plight of the Rohingya with the Government of Burma.

Gaza: Armed Conflict

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they intend to make of the relationship between the exposure of pregnant women to military attacks in Gaza in 2014 and the levels of heavy metal contaminants in the hair of mothers and newborn children in Gaza.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We do not intend to make any assessment of this issue. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take steps to ease restrictions and improve conditions in Gaza.

Burma: Rohingya

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are giving to the authorities in Burma to regularise the citizenship of those Rohingyas legally entitled to Burmese citizenship.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We continue to urge the Government of Burma to improve living conditions and the citizenship status of all communities in Burma, particularly those who face severe discrimination, such as the Rohingya.We support the Rakhine Advisory Commission, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and welcomed its report published on 24 August. The Commission recommended that the Government of Burma take full responsibility for all residents in Rakhine State, ensure access to services and humanitarian aid and accelerate the verification process in line with the 1982 Citizenship Act. We assess that the Commission's recommendations provide the most realistic solution to address the underlying issues in Rakhine. The UK has repeatedly urged the Government of Burma to implement the recommendations and stands ready to support Burma to implement them.

Turkey: LGBT People

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have given to LGBT groups in Turkey.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Government attaches great importance to supporting and promoting LGBTI rights internationally, including through our bilateral programme funds. Last year we supported a project in Turkey to raise public awareness and support the human rights of vulnerable groups – including LGBTI groups – focused specifically on strengthening networking and communication at local, national and regional level. This year we are supporting a project to raise awareness and build up the advocacy capacity of LGBTI citizens and refugees in Turkey with the active cooperation and participation of Bar associations, lawyers, social workers and rights-based civil society organisations. More generally, we regularly raise human rights in our dialogue with the Turkish government at all levels.

Iran: Political Prisoners

lord maginnis of drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 23 January (HL Deb, col 513) committing to action on the reported massacre of political prisoners by the government of Iran in 1988 ifthere were corroborated evidence, what assessment they have made of the report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, published on 14 August; and what action they intend to take in the light of that report.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The UK Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and takes any allegations of extrajudicial killings seriously. Whilst at present we have no plans to raise the 1988 executions, we continue to take action with the international community to press for improvements on all human rights issues in Iran, including ending the death penalty and by supporting the work of the Special Rapporteur.

Olympic Games: South Korea

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what contingency plans are in place for UK competitors and supporters travelling to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in the light of the threat of instability in that region; and what advice they have issued.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Both the UK Government and the Pyeongchang Organising Committee for the Olympic Games in South Korea have contingency plans for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as we do for all major sporting events. As we prepare for the Games, we are in close touch with the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations. The Government keeps all travel advice under constant review, including for the Republic of Korea.

Venezuela: Antisemitism

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether in their bilateral discussions with the government of Venezuela they have raised ways of combating anti-semitism.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We have had no recent discussions with the government of Venezuela on combating anti-semitism.

Turkey: Torture

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to raise at the United Nations the allegations of torture used in Turkey.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We raised Turkey human rights issues in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 12 September. Our Representative said: "While recognising the challenges caused by the appalling attempted coup, we share the High Commissioner's concerns about Turkey's human rights situation. We hope steps can be taken to release detained civil society representatives and to lift the State of Emergency, sending a strong signal of Turkey's commitment to human rights." We will continue to engage with the UN over the situation in Turkey.

Turkey: Prisons

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to ask the Council of Europe to make public their report concerning allegations of ill-treatment in Turkish prisons, prepared by its Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: On 13 September, the UK Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe intervened in the Committee of Ministers to call on Turkey to agree to the publication of all Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) reports concerning Turkey from 2015-2017. We take the issue of human rights in Turkey, not least allegations of torture, very seriously and will continue to work with the Government of Turkey and the Council Of Europe to address these issues.

Pakistan: Minority Groups

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have about proposals in Pakistan to establish (1)a National Council for Minorities’ Rights, and (2) a dedicated police unit to protect religious minorities; and whether they have encouraged such developments.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Action Plan for Human Rights, published by the Pakistan Ministry of Human Rights in 2016, contains proposals for a range of measures to improve human rights in Pakistan, including a National Commission for Minorities and security arrangements for protection of places of worship of minorities. We have encouraged implementation of the Action Plan.

Pakistan: Marriage

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have encouraged the government of Pakistan to enact laws recognising the legality of Christian marriages.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Ministry of Human Rights in Pakistan is currently reviewing the Christian Marriage Act 1872 and Christian Divorce Act 1862. We have discussed the review with the then Minister for Human Rights, Kamran Michael, and regularly raise minority and women's rights with the Government of Pakistan.

International Courts: Judgements

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether theyplan topublish a summary of the verdicts and punishments imposed by all international courts and tribunals associated with the United Nations relatingto breaches by individuals ofinternational law in the last 20 years, including those imposed by the International Criminal Court.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Support for international criminal justice and accountability is a fundamental element of UK foreign policy. International courts and tribunals, including the International Criminal Court, have an important role to play in global efforts to end impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern by holding perpetrators to account and achieving justice for victims. The institutions report regularly on their activities and publish up-to-date details of convictions and sentences on their publicly accessible websites. The Government does not intend to publish a summary of such information at this time.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was DFID's (1) core, and (2) non-core, expenditure in (a) 2015–16, and (b) 2016–17, to (i) UNFPA, (ii) UNAIDS, (iii) UN Women, (iv) the WHO, (v) The Global Fund, (vi) the IPPF, and (vii) Women and Children First (UK).

lord bates: The table below shows DFID’s spend to the organisations in the UK’s financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17. These figures are provisional until the Government’s ‘Statistics on International Development’ are published later in 2017 (for 2016 spend) and in 2018 (for 2017 spend). £ millions 2015/162016/17 CoreNon-coreCoreNon-coreUnited Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)20.189.12087.8Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)150150UN Women12.52.712.56.8World Health Organisation (WHO)14.5250.1*14.5*The Global Fund1000152.90International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)8.606.50Women and Children First (UK)00.0900.04Total170.7341.968.5247.5*The World Health Organisation operates a biennial budget cycle; as such the non-core funding for 2015/16 financial year also covers 2016/17 financial year.

Caribbean: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

lord naseby: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many medical doctorsthey havesent to assist in the disaster zone affected by Hurricane Irma; when those doctorsleft the UK; and where they went.

lord bates: DFID is liaising urgently with governments in the region to understand their needs for medical staff. We are also working with the Department of Health, and Public Health England to carry out needs assessments and UK medical experts are standing by to deploy as required and if requested by local governments. DFID has already offered up to £2.5 million to the Pan American Health Organisation, which is supporting them to provide health services including deployment of medical staff to the region. The Government will continue to do all it can to support those affected.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much bilateral expenditure was directly targeted by DFIDtowardsHIV and AIDS in (1) 2015-16, and (2) 2016-17.

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government how muchbilateral expenditure was directly targeted by DFID towardsreproductive health in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2016–17.

lord bates: In 2015-16 DFID direct bilateral expenditure on reproductive health care, including training of personnel, was nearly £65 million. This excludes direct bilateral expenditure on family planning, which is reported separately. On HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care direct bilateral expenditure was £27m.This data uses the specific reproductive health and HIV input sector codes set by the OECD/DAC. This does not capture spend on related programming that complements our wider work on HIV and reproductive health (for example family planning services, maternal and neo-natal health, strengthening health systems, research activities and our substantial contribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria).Data for all sector codes are available on the Statistics for International Development website. Data for 2016/17 will be released early in 2018.

Pakistan: Schools

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the meeting of Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne with the Minister of State at the Department for International Development, Rory Stewart MP, about the role of school textbooks and the school curriculum in Pakistan in describing non-Muslims, what progress has been made in promoting inclusive educational approaches in that country.

lord bates: DFID’s education programmes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces continue to support provincial governments in the ongoing process to update and revise textbooks. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab lower secondary textbooks are now the focus. Through the Ilm Two programme DFID is directly supporting the production of additional reading materials that specifically focus on religious tolerance and inclusion. DFID is also engaged with Federal Government consultations on a new draft National Curriculum which is in its early stages. The Federal Government has also agreed minimum standards for educational quality which were adopted by provinces this year. These standards set the quality criteria for learners, curriculum, textbooks, teachers and assessment and form the basis for the current textbook reform.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much overseas aid they have given to Pakistan in each of thepast five years; and of that,how much has specifically been committed to the promotion of (1) the protection of minorities, and (2)freedom of religion or belief.

lord bates: The DFID Annual Report includes the following figures for aid spend in Pakistan for the last five years; 2012-13 £203.1 Million2013-14 £253 M2014-15 £249 M2015-16 £336.2 M2016-17 £422.1M £39.5 million has been committed to the Voice and Accountability programme (AAWAZ) which aims to ensure that democratic processes are more open, inclusive and accountable to citizens in Pakistan. It focuses on three areas: 1- Women’s and minority rights, their political participation and decision making;2- Tolerance and prevention of violence (inter-faith, sectarian and gender-based)3- Increasing the accountability and responsiveness of the state to citizens’ demands for improved service delivery (particularly on health and education).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Poultry: Animal Welfare

lord laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) which EU states have not compliedwith the conventional cage ban for hens, (2) what steps they have taken in relation to any non-compliance, and (3) whether the UK still allows eggs to be imported from non-compliant countries.

lord laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) which EU stateshave not compliedwith the sow stall ban under EU Directive 2008/120/EC, (2) what steps they havetakeninrelationto any non-compliance, and (3) whether the UK allows pork to be imported from non-compliant countries.

lord gardiner of kimble: A Report from the European Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council in September 2016 states that the Commission’s actions to encourage all Member States to enforce the 2012 ban on the keeping of laying hens in conventional (‘battery’) cages, and the 2013 partial ban on the keeping of sows in sow stalls proved effective. According to information available to the Commission, all Member States are now compliant with the cage ban. In terms of the sow stall ban, the Commission is checking the documentation of the last three Member States to see if they are now fully compliant.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Charities: Finance

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimateof the amount that they pay annually to charities in England and Wales.

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of standards of corporate governance in charities in England and Wales.

lord ashton of hyde: Government recognises that high quality governance is central to an effective and sustainable voluntary sector. To obtain a clear picture of the current state of sector governance, government is working with the Charity Commission, as well as a partnership of sector representatives, to carry out research. This will help in identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement. The findings of this research will be published shortly.

Charities: Finance

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the ten charities in England and Wales to whichthey provide the greatest amounts of funding; and what was the amount paid to each of those charities in the last financial year.

lord ashton of hyde: DCMS does not hold this information centrally. Government puts transparency and accountability to the public at the heart of how we do business and publishing data is key to this so, working with users across government, Cabinet Office Grants Function has designed and built the Government Grants Information System (GGIS). This records and reports grants data across government departments in a simple, standardised and scalable way. This system is new and our aim is for it to be an essential tool helping departments manage grants in an efficient and effective way.

Department of Health

General Practitioners

lord mccoll of dulwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the guidance issued by NHS England to clinical commissioning groups in May stating that all areas of the country should have a system in place from September to ensure that all new GP referrals are subject to clinical peer review, how they define such reviews.

lord o'shaughnessy: Clinical peer reviews are a simple way for general practitioners (GPs) to support each other and help patients get the best care, from the right person at the right time, without having to make unnecessary trips to hospital. More than half of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have already implemented some form of clinical peer review system and the NHS England guidance will help ensure best practice is shared to the remaining local commissioners. There is flexibility in how local CCGs and their GPs implement prospective internal clinical peer review, but it should see GPs reviewing each other’s new referrals to provide constructive feedback in a safe learning environment. Delivering prospective internal peer review will help ensure that all patients get access to the optimum care pathway. It should not be established as an approval process and the referring GP retains responsibility for the patient and makes the final decision.

Health

lord mccoll of dulwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many legal cases have been filed against the Department of Health about public health matters in each of the last five years; and how many are currently in progress.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Department and the Government Legal Department do not categorise cases as specifically relating to ‘public health’. According to Government Legal Department records, the approximate total number of judicial review cases brought against the Department in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. 42 cases are recorded as active as of 15 September 2017. YearNumber of cases brought2012/13262013/14162014/15222015/16252016/1728Total117 Source: Data from the Government Legal Department.